Method and medical imaging system for compensating for patient motion

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and also an imaging system to compensate for patient motion when recording a series of images in medical imaging, in which a number of images of an area under examination of a patient (17) are recorded at intervals with an imaging system (1) and are related to one another. With the method a localization system (2) is used as the series of images are being recorded to permanently or at a time close to the recording of the individual images, record a momentary spatial location of the area under examination in a reference system permanently linked to the imaging system (1), a first spatial location of the area under examination recorded close to the time of recording of a first image is stored, and a deviation of the images recorded momentarily in each case of the first spatial location is determined and by changing the geometrical circumstances of the imaging system (1) at a time to close the recording of the spatial location and / or through geometrical adaptation of an image content of an image just recorded, is at least approximately commentated for, so that the images show the area under examination in the same position and orientation. The method does not require any time-consuming interaction with the operator and is also suitable for compensating for larger movements of the patient.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to the German application No. 10 2004 004 604.2, filed Jan. 29, 2004 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a method to compensate for patient movements when recording a series of medical images in which a number of images of an area under examination of the patient are taken at intervals with an imaging system and are compared to one another, as is the case for example in Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) or roadmapping. The invention further relates to a medical imaging system with radiation source, detector, patient support, image processing unit and image display unit which is embodied to execute the method.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION[0003]In a main area of application of the present method, the area of digital subtraction angiography, blood vessels of the human body are recorded with an imaging system, in this case an X-ray sy...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a method and system for compensating for motion in medical imaging by using a position sensor on the patient and adapting the geometrical circumstances of the imaging system in real-time. This allows for accurate motion compensation without user interaction and can improve image results in digital subtraction angiography and roadmapping. The method can be implemented in real-time and can save time, reduce X-ray dose, and make it possible to dispense with sedating or anesthetizing the patient. The system includes a position sensor on the patient, a localization system, and a detector that can be rotated and scaled. The invention provides a more efficient and effective solution for motion compensation in medical imaging.

Problems solved by technology

Retrospective image processing can however only approximately compensate for motion.

Furthermore the complicated image processing methods demand extensive processing power and are thus difficult to implement in real time.

Manual methods for image processing (pixel shifting) need user interaction and can demand significant amounts of time.

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